Feature Articles
Idaho National Laboratory
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 14-May-2025 14:10 ET (14-May-2025 18:10 GMT/UTC)
18-Feb-2022
Cracking under pressure: What teeth can teach us about modern materials
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory researchers are studying the rigid and resilient properties of dental enamel in hopes of using them to impact the energy and national security sectors.
14-Feb-2022
Learning to improve chemical reactions with artificial intelligence
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
INL researchers working with the innovative Temporal Analysis of Products (TAP) reactor system are trying to improve understanding of chemical reactions by studying the role of catalysts, which are components that can be added to a mixture of chemicals to alter the reaction process.
- Journal
- Chemical Engineering Journal
2-Feb-2022
Battle-ready recycling: DARPA ReSource project enlists INL research team
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – DARPA – has enlisted Idaho National Laboratory to help create a mechanical system that soldiers can use to separate their garbage and turn it into everything they need to survive: food and water for their bodies, fuel and lubricants for their vehicles.
31-Jan-2022
Forging the future of nuclear power: INL team assembles microreactor prototype
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
Machinists at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) have successfully fabricated a full-scale, electrically heated prototype for the Department of Energy’s Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) project in just nine months.
10-Jan-2022
It’s in the water
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
Electric vehicles are expected to be essential to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As more of them roll off production lines and onto roads, the world will need two things: more lithium, the key element in the batteries that power them, and carbon-free power to charge those batteries. A recent study conducted by INL researchers suggests that lithium from U.S. geothermal plants could meet up to 8% of the world’s demand.
- Journal
- Resources Conservation and Recycling
14-Dec-2021
Security researchers discover abundant, cost-effective way to make new cancer medicine
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
By bombarding a natural vanadium target with high-energy photons, INL researchers created a pure, low-cost form of Scandium-47 which can be used to treat prostate, lung, intestinal and pancreatic cancers, among others.
- Journal
- Applied Radiation and Isotopes
16-Nov-2021
Moving water could replace diesel energy in remote communities
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
In remote regions of Alaska, many communities aren’t connected to a regional electrical grid, forcing them to rely on importing diesel fuel to meet their energy needs. But the harsh elements can lead to interruptions in their fuel supply, and diesel prices can be excessively high. To address this issue, a collaborative project between INL researchers, the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP), and XENDEE Corporation is looking at the feasibility of enabling these microgrids to integrate power from tidal or wave energy sources along with other renewables and energy storage.
3-Nov-2021
Microreactors could replace diesel generators, enable renewables, report says
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
An up-and-coming type of nuclear reactor could help answer questions related to reducing carbon emissions while providing a foundation for renewable energy, if the fledgling technology can survive some growing pains, according to a new report by researchers at Idaho National Laboratory focusing on microreactors.
1-Nov-2021
Idaho researchers take a close look at uranium to unravel its mysteries
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
For the first time in decades, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory are studying how the structure of uranium changes when it is rapidly heated or cooled.